Startup operations and supply chain road guide proposal, based on Robotics Cluster case studies

Abstract

Concerted efforts are being pursued by governments and economic institutions to promote the generation of startups, and copious documentation has been produced as guides for these emerging companies. However, little has been written on, e.g., the Operations and Supply Chain needs for Hardware Startups, and the development strategy of the required skills to build flexibility during the initial phases of startup development. This work proposes an initial road guide framework for hardware startups, resulting from the experiences of successful companies within the Robotics Cluster present in Massachusetts (either new ventures or spinoffs from existing companies). System Dynamics methodology is then used to capture causal loops, and to characterize the policies which would enable New Venture growth, so as to analyze the Supply Chain/Operations conditions for Hardware Startup Success. The work is presented in four main sections. The first section contains a bibliographic research to characterize the present conditions of Hardware Startups with special emphasis on the Massachusetts Robotics Cluster, providing an overview of the available resources for startups in terms of their skills development and especially with regard to their Operations/Supply Chain Skills development. A second section considered the directed interview of executives at existing robotics startups (Artaic LLC, Kiva Systems, Rethink Robotics and Boston Engineering) to obtain information regarding their strategic decisions in specific aspects of their Supply Chain and Operations. These interviews are reflected as case studies of these companies. The third phase is reflected as a proposal for a System Dynamics model, based on previous work in the area and complemented by aspects identified as relevant from the interviews. Lastly, the conclusions of this work will attempt to gather the main learnings from the analyzed cases, in terms of Operations/Supply Chain Skills development, laying down some directing guidelines for future Hardware Startup ventures.